MUNICIPAL CLASS EA PROCESS Recognizing 30 …

1 MUNICIPAL CLASS EA PROCESS FIVE year REVIEW Recognizing 30 Years of Application october 2017 Prepared by the MUNICIPAL Engineers Association in consultation with the Ministry of the Environment MUNICIPAL Engineers Association MUNICIPAL CLASS EA 5 year Review Report 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .. 4 INTRODUCTION .. 4 BACKGROUND - MUNICIPAL CLASS EA PARENT DOCUMENT .. 5 APPROVED MUNICIPAL CLASS EA .. 7 CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL .. 7 2017 5 year Review Contents .. 7 Key Activities 2012 .. 8 Cost adjustments .. 8 Key Activities 2013 .. 8 Major Amendment .. 8 Key Activities 2014 .. 9 Meeting with MCEA Stakeholders .. 9 Brant County initiated a pilot Schedule C project for alternative project delivery which would contain limited details and maximum flexibility for design/build procurement. MEA was monitoring the PROCESS and would report on success.. 9 Major Amendment .. 9 Key Activities 2015.

2 9 Delays in Responding to Part II Order Requests .. 9 Major Amendment .. 9 Brant County initiated a pilot Schedule C project for alternative project delivery which would contain limited details and maximum flexibility for design/build procurement. MEA was monitoring the PROCESS and would report on success in the Fall of 2015. The pilot was suspended.. 10 EA Review .. 10 2016 Key Activities .. 10 Auditor General s Report .. 10 MUNICIPAL Engineers Association MUNICIPAL CLASS EA 5 year Review Report 2 Deferred Actions to 2017 .. 10 MOECC s Consideration of Climate Change in Environmental Assessment in Ontario .. 10 MOECC s Environmental Assessment Act Review .. 11 Compliance Monitoring .. 11 MOE Reporting .. 11 Compliance Audits .. 11 Notices of Completion .. 11 Part II Order Requests .. 11 Response Timing .. 11 Key Comments .. 12 Relationships with other CLASS EAs and Legislation .. 12 Agency Reviews .. 12 Proponent Municipalities.

3 13 Database .. 13 First Nations Consultation .. 13 Cycling Facilities .. 14 RCCAO Categorization Study .. 14 Schedule A projects .. 17 MOE COMMENTS .. 19 Proposed Monitoring Reporting Format .. 19 MOE Reporting .. 19 Revised General Questionnaire .. 19 Revised Annual Monitoring Report Format .. 31 Summary of Recommended Actions .. 32 Notices of Completion .. 32 MUNICIPAL Engineers Association MUNICIPAL CLASS EA 5 year Review Report 3 MUNICIPAL Engineers Association MUNICIPAL CLASS EA 5 year Review Report 4 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION The parent MUNICIPAL CLASS Environmental Assessment (EA) enables the planning of MUNICIPAL infrastructure to be undertaken in accordance with an approved procedure designed to protect the environment. The CLASS EA approach to dealing with MUNICIPAL infrastructure projects has been proved to be an effective way of complying with the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act (EA Act) through over twenty years of experience.

4 It provides: a reasonable mechanism for proponents to fulfill their responsibilities to the public for the provision of MUNICIPAL services in an efficient, timely, economic and environmentally responsible manner; a consistent, streamlined and easily understood PROCESS for planning and implementing infrastructure projects; and the flexibility to tailor the planning PROCESS to a specific project taking into account the environmental setting, local public interests and unique project requirements. Municipalities undertake hundreds of projects. The CLASS EA PROCESS provides a decision-making framework that enables the requirements of the EA Act to be met in an effective manner. The alternatives to a parent CLASS EA would be: to undertake individual environmental assessments for all MUNICIPAL projects; for each municipality to develop their own CLASS environmental assessment PROCESS ; and/or, for municipalities to obtain exemptions. These alternatives would be extremely onerous, time consuming and costly.

5 Over two decades of experience have demonstrated that considerable public, economic and environmental benefits are achieved by applying the CLASS EA concept to MUNICIPAL infrastructure projects. The MUNICIPAL CLASS EA dated June 2000 was approved with conditions by Order of Cabinet on october 4, 2000. An amendment, to the CLASS EA, was approved on November 5th, 2007. Further amendments were approved on August 17th, 2011 and october 2015. Condition #4, of the original approval, requires that a MUNICIPAL CLASS EA Monitoring Program be further defined and implemented. The MUNICIPAL CLASS EA Monitoring Program has been prepared by the MUNICIPAL Engineers Association (MEA) through discussions with the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and the Ministry of MUNICIPAL Affairs and Housing (MMAH) for submission to the Director of the MOE - Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch (EAAB) by october 4, 2001 for approval. Part 1 provides information regarding the parent document and the development of the Monitoring Program prior to describing the actual program in Part 2.

6 Part 3 outlines the 5 year Review. MUNICIPAL Engineers Association MUNICIPAL CLASS EA 5 year Review Report 5 BACKGROUND - MUNICIPAL CLASS EA PARENT DOCUMENT It is important to understand the history of the MUNICIPAL CLASS EA parent document since this in turn has affected the nature of the Monitoring Program. Section of the MUNICIPAL CLASS EA Parent Document provides a good review with the key points summarized herein. On April 9, 1987, the first MUNICIPAL CLASS EA parent documents, prepared by MEA on behalf of proponent Ontario Municipalities, were approved under the EA Act. At that time, two CLASS EAs were implemented to deal with: i) MUNICIPAL road projects, and, ii) MUNICIPAL water and wastewater projects. In 1993, the MUNICIPAL CLASS EAs were reviewed, determined to be working well, updated and their approval extended until May 31, 1998. In 1997, the MEA in conjunction with the MOE-EAAB commenced the MUNICIPAL CLASS EAs Renewal Project that is described in Section of the approved MUNICIPAL CLASS EA.

7 From comments received since the MUNICIPAL CLASS EAs were first approved, and during the Renewal Project, many municipalities, MOE and other key stakeholders have indicated that the PROCESS has, and is working well. This was also borne out through the stakeholder survey done during the 1998 review which included a questionnaire distributed to over 1370 stakeholders, of which 85 completed the questionnaire and returned it to MEA. Consequently, it was recognized that much had been achieved over the years of working with and refining the MUNICIPAL CLASS EAs and therefore a wholesale change in the PROCESS was neither necessary nor appropriate. Therefore, the underlying principle in the review and updating of the MUNICIPAL CLASS EAs was to maintain the substance of the existing PROCESS while making any necessary changes. Through the Renewal Project, the CLASS EAs for MUNICIPAL roads and water and waste water projects were consolidated into one document and updated.

8 The MUNICIPAL CLASS EA parent document is broad in scope given its application to a variety of projects being undertaken by numerous proponents across the province. As a result, first and foremost, the MUNICIPAL CLASS EA provides the framework for EA planning of MUNICIPAL infrastructure projects to fulfill the requirements of the EA Act. It establishes principles and certain minimum mandatory requirements and has been set-up as a proponent-driven self-assessment PROCESS which is sufficiently flexible to allow different proponents to meet the needs of specific projects while ensuring that the requirements of the EA Act are met. While the MUNICIPAL CLASS EA defines the minimum requirements for environmental assessment planning, the proponent is encouraged to and is responsible for customizing the PROCESS to reflect the specific complexities and needs of a project. In 2005, the five year review identified a number of issues. These were addressed through three amendments to the MUNICIPAL CLASS EA.

9 In summary, these amendments included: a minor amendment which addresses a number of housekeeping issues; a major amendment which creates a new sub- CLASS of activities (Schedule A+) and reorganizes the classification of certain activities; and a new chapter which expands the scope of the CLASS EA to include MUNICIPAL transit projects. These amendments were approved on September 6th, 2007 and a consolidated document has been printed. MUNICIPAL Engineers Association MUNICIPAL CLASS EA 5 year Review Report 6 Furthermore, on october 7, 2015, an amendment was approved that is known as the Cycling Amendment . This amendment included: clarification on the Part II Order PROCESS ; inclusion of the Clean Water Act and specifically Source Water Protection considerations; inclusion and/or clarification of cycling infrastructure; inclusion of mitigation measures for potential environmental effects; sample notices including a memo to MOECC-EAB, and; consequential amendments to address the concern related to Schedule A projects being implemented without having regard for requirements under the Ontario Heritage Act.

10 The Provincial Government s Ontario s Business Sector Strategy establishes an open dialogue and collaborative relationship between government and key business stakeholders. Sector representatives are asked to identify five priorities under jurisdiction of the provincial government that, if addressed, would strengthen their sector s success. This joint understanding of priorities allows government and the business sector to work together more effectively to generate economic growth, create jobs for Ontario families, and protect the public interest. BILD represents the first sector to identify its priorities under Ontario s Business Sector Strategy. BILD identified a concern with the MUNICIPAL Engineers Association (MEA) MUNICIPAL CLASS Environmental Assessment ( MUNICIPAL CLASS EA) PROCESS related to the duplication of work between the MUNICIPAL CLASS EA requirements and those under Planning Act processes. The ministry consulted with various municipalities and requested their input on the existing integration provisions.